Sweet Sixteen
by absolute reverence
Summary: It’s the triplet’s sixteenth birthday, and they get to see the video filmed by Joey on the day they were born.
1. Happy birthday, darling

**Title: Sweet Sixteen**

**Author: Saaam**

**Rating: PG-13ish, just to be safe.**

**Disclaimer: Don't own 'Friends' or anything its associated with.**

**Summary: It's the triplet's sixteenth birthday, and they get to see the video filmed by Joey on the day they were born.**

**Author's Notes: The idea for this story has been kind of bouncing around in my head for a while, so I just wanted to get it out. As always, reviews are welcomed.**

* * *

It was a day that the three had been waiting for their entire lives. They were _finally_ sixteen, and in most states, turning sixteen entails a whole new world of freedoms. Getting a job would be easier, and most importantly on everyone's minds, driving licenses were an opportunity that were definitely coveted by Frank, Leslie and Chandler.

Their actual birthday fell on a Thursday and the following Saturday consisted of a close family celebration, which included Frank, Alice, their Aunt Phoebe and Uncle Mike, who had always had a huge impact on their lives. They had sat around and lazily chatted the day away, and it was hard for the adults at the table to believe that just sixteen years ago, there were no triplets and there didn't seem to be a hope for there to be any children for Frank and Alice.

The children had always had a close bond with Phoebe and Mike. Phoebe was like a second mother of sorts to the girls; she was always giving advice when the girls had problems with boys or their parents. Leslie and Chandler had always admired her quirky fashion sense, even in her later years. Mike had taken to showing Frank the world of arts and drawing and calligraphy, something that Frank could never get enough of. Plenty of weekends had been spent at Mike and Phoebe's large house in Long Island, and the triplets always coveted the time that they spent with their Aunt and Uncle.

Instead of cousins, the triplets had to get used to the children of the other five in Phoebe's old group. Ben was almost twenty and was in his third year at Harvard for law school. Emma was still younger than the triplets, being almost fourteen. Monica and Chandler's twins, Jack and Erica, were eleven and starting junior high. Even Phoebe and Mike's young daughter, Kate, took some getting used to. Joey had a family of his own as well, even though they lived in California and didn't make it to New York as often as they would have liked.

Frank had grown to be very studious and culture oriented. He got his fathers curly hair with his mother's dark color. He was taller than his father, almost reaching 6'2. He had hopes of attending NYU on a full scholarship, and with his high grade point average and connections through Ross in the paleontology department, he was practically a shoo in.

Leslie was a girly girl, with beautiful, chocolate colored hair and piercing green eyes. She was not as much concerned about studies as she was concerned about fashion, and boyfriends, and a social life. This was something that distressed her parents, but something that they had no control over.

Chandler was exceptionally quiet, which was very unlike her brother, sister and the relatives she grew up with. As she had gotten older and able to respond to her own name, the others had resorted to calling her Channy as to not confuse her with Monica' husband. She was a cute girl with an incredibly high intellect. She was more like her brother than her sister, except with her brother's academics and clubs came a high amount of social standing and friends. She was mostly a loner, and she enjoyed writing in her diary and staying at home.

Frank and Alice couldn't have been more happier with the types of people their children were growing up to be.

After dinner, while Alice was cleaning up the dinner she had prepared for the birthday dinner, Phoebe pulled the triplets aside as she set her napkin on the table.

"Happy birthday, guys," Phoebe repeated the phrase for what probably seemed like the one hundredth time, but the kids never tired of hearing it.

"Thank you so much for coming, Aunt Phoebe. You too, Uncle Mike," Leslie smiled charmingly at her Aunt, stepping in for a hug. Phoebe returned it gratefully.

"Me and your Uncle Mike were wondering if maybe you guys would want to come out to Monica and Chandler's this weekend. I mean, since you guys can drive now and everything, it won't be such a hassle to arrange your parents to take you all the way out to Long Island. Monica has a birthday thing planned for you guys, and you know what that means…" Phoebe smiled enticingly as she trailed off, and the three knew that if Monica was cooking, then that was a reason in itself to be there.

"We would love to. But Frank will have to drive," Channy mumbled begrudgingly, bringing light to the fact that Frank was the only one of the three to get his license on Thursday.

"Oh yeah, I forgot about that," Frank smiled, puffing his chest out a bit. Anyone could tell that in no way, shape or form did he forget he had a license to drive; but he didn't want to brag.

"Really? That is so great," Phoebe laid a hand on Mike's arm as she turned to look at him. "Monica is going to be so excited!"

"I know," Mike smiled brilliantly, looking at the kids in turn. "They haven't seen you guys in forever. They're going to be really surprised at how grown up you all are."

"So it's a date then?" Frank asked, clapping his hands together and looking and his siblings, Aunt and Uncle. "A weekend at Chandler and Monica's?"

"Yeah. And I think Ross and Rachel will be there as well. Ben just left to go back to school again, and I think that they are pretty down about it," Mike admitted. "I think they're bringing Emma, though. And the twins will definitely be there."

Chandler, Leslie and Frank all looked at each other, the excitement apparent in each other their eyes. Not only was this another chance for a birthday celebration, but it was their first real trip away from home. A drive from the city to the Island wasn't the biggest distance in the world, but it was away from chaperones and away from their parents. They were even out from under the watchful eyes of their loving Aunt and Uncle. There was an exciting rush of freedom overlaying the situation.

And the three couldn't be more excited about it.

* * *

Read and review? Thanks. Part two and more up soon.


	2. Trip to Long Island

**Thanks for the reviews. Here's part two.**

**A/N:** Yeah, I realize the age difference between Emma and the twins, but I think I need the age gap later, so we'll just pretend for a bit. Sorry about that.

* * *

"Now you kids know that if you kids want to come home this weekend, don't be afraid to call! It doesn't matter what time of day or night," Alice warned, walking behind the kids down the driveway towards the car that Frank Jr. Jr. would use to drive him and his siblings to his aunt's house in Long Island. "I want you guys to be careful." 

"Mom," Channy said sternly as she placed her duffel bag into the backseat. "We're going to be fine. We will call as soon as we get there. We're driving an hour away. Why are you so worried?"

Alice let out a harried sigh and moved a piece of hair from in front of Channy's face. "I'm your mother. It's my job."

Frank rolled his eyes with a good natured smile as he pulled his mother into a hug. "Don't worry about us, Ma. We're old enough to take care of ourselves."

"I know you are. I'm just worried!" Alice chided. "This is the first time that my babies have been away from home like this."

"You mean driving?" Leslie asked, slipping her bag into the trunk. "It's not like we're drunk!"

"Yeah, we'll definitely leave that until we get there," Frank Jr. Jr. chuckled, and in return received a death glare from both of his parents. "And by there, I mean our twenty first birthdays, of course."

Alice gave her son a sideways glance before pulling each of her children in for a hug. "Please prove to me that you are old enough for this responsibility!"

Channy and Leslie rolled their eyes as they each kissed their mother on the cheek. "Okay, Mom."

"Keep Frank in line, would ya?" Their father called with his hands in his pockets. "And don't annoy Monica and Chandler too much."

"Alright," Channy winked as she got into the backseat of the car. Leslie waved as she walked to the other side of the car.

"Bye!"

Frank gave a lopsided grin to his parents before sitting down and starting the car. His look turned excited as the car started loudly, and he looked at his parents as if for approval.

"Please be careful," Alicemouthed to her son as she shut the door carefully. He waved before turning his attention to the road in front of him.

Both Alice and Frank watched as their children drove off down the street and away from the city. It was hard to believe that just sixteen years ago, they were barely old enough to open their eyes. And now they had the responsibility and desire to leave home. It was almost too much for a parent to handle.

* * *

"When are the kids getting here?" Chandler asked from where he was sitting at the kitchen table of the Bing's lovely suburban home. The beautiful Victorian style house was full of wondrous smells, thanks to Monica's cooking. Chandler gave a glance out the window to his own two children, Jack and Erica, playing in the freshly fallen leaves. He smiled in spite of himself as Jack smashed Erica into a pile of leaves and took off running away from her. She rose from the ground with a look of malice, and seemed determined to show revenge to her brother. 

There was a pang in Chandler's chest as he observed each of their beautiful blond heads. They had both definitely taken after their biological mother with her small frame and blond hair. Even at eleven, Erica was growing to look like her mother more and more each day, and it hurt Chandler that he couldn't look at his daughter and see the early years of his wife, the woman he loved more than any in the entire world.

He was shaken from his thoughts by the violent sobs of his son coming from the backdoor of the house. Alarmed, he quickly jumped up and rushed to the source of the action. He was not surprised to see that Monica was ten steps ahead of him, and was already kneeling in front of Jack and examining his bloody mouth.

"Sh--sh--she push--she pushed--" And once again, the bawling started up again.

"Shhh, baby, what happened?" Monica asked soothingly, using her apron to wipe the blood running down the child's mouth. Chandler stood back a couple of feet, watching the scene play out in front of him.

Jack took a deep, quivering breath before continuing. "Erica pushed me into a--into a--into a--tree!"

Monica and Chandler both gasped, though for entirely different reasons. Monica looked surprised and appalled; Chandler turned his back on the situation as not to start laughing.

"Erica!" Monica asked seriously. "Why did you do that?"

Before Erica had a chance to defend herself, Chandler stepped forward. "I don't think that Erica is fully to blame for this."

"How would you know?" Monica practically snapped, still wiping blood from Jack's mouth. "I think his tooth is loose!"

"Well, I watched Jack push Erica into a pile of leaves. They were just playing roughly. Isn't that right, Erica?" Chandler caught his daughter's eye, and she nodded enthusiastically.

"Yes, daddy."

"And you are very sorry for hurting your brother, right sweetie?"

Erica nodded again. "Sorry, Jack."

"S'okay," Jack sniffled, wiping his eyes with the back of his hand.

"Well at least it isn't bleeding anymore. We'll have to take you to see Dr. Hardin first thing Monday morning." She turned to go back to her cooking. "You kids need to play more carefully. Understand?"

They both nodded guiltily before Jack took off up the stairs and slammed his bedroom door. Erica smiled as she gave her father a hug.

"Thanks, Daddy," she mumbled into his chest.

"No problem, baby girl. You just need to be more careful about beating up your brother next time."

"Next time?" Monica asked as she walked briskly from the living room. "The triplets are here."

"You were saved just in time," Chandler smiled, rubbing her head before she took off after her mother to greet the triplets.

"Jack! Frank, Channy and Leslie are here!" Chandler called up the stairs before following the woman Bings into the front yard. The car was parked in front of the house, and Monica was in the midst of hugging Leslie. Frank was removing the bags from the back of the car, and Channy was talking to Erica about something with great interest.

Chandler smiled to himself as he looked instinctively up the street. Ross and Rachel's gun-metal gray BMW was due to be rolling down the road at any moment. Chandler couldn't see how the car was a very logical family car, seeing as how Emma was a star soccer player and was constantly relied on to tote around equipment and other girls. Chandler would always jokingly refer to Ross's car as 'the $40,000 mid life crisis', to which Ross would panic about being in 'mid-life'.

Frank walked up to Chandler with a huge grin on his face. "Uncle Chandler," he smiled as he reached his hand out to shake the older man's. Chandler shook his head and pulled his surrogate nephew into a long over due hug. "How've you been?"

"Great," Chandler said honestly. "Well, Jack's upstairs pouting because he and Erica got into a riff. So things have probably been better for him…"

"Ah. Do you remember when we used to fight all the time?" Frank asked as she readjusted the bag on his shoulder.

"How could I forget?" Chandler laughed out loud as he thought about when the triplets when they were younger. He remembered quite well all of the times that, thanks to Rachel's teachings, Frank played numerous amounts of pranks on his sisters. It was definitely more than once that one of the girls would run in with pencil marks down their noses and tears streaming down their faces. "Fortunately it's a phase."

Frank smiled as he walked into the house. Chandler walked towards the other two girls with a wide smile on his face. "Hey girls!"

"Uncle Chandler!" they both cried unanimously, throwing themselves at their uncle. He hugged them graciously before pulling them out at arm's length to get a good look at them.

"You guys are sixteen! I find that very hard to believe!"

Everyone laughed as Monica cleared her throat.

"So who's ready to eat?"

She was met with a chorus of agreements, which signaled the beginnings of dinner.

* * *

Ross, Rachel and Emma, along with Phoebe, Mike and Kate had all arrived a short time later. The family felt almost complete, with the exception of Joey, his wife and his children. The atmosphere shared with the group was so calm it was almost eerie. After the dinner had been eaten and the younger children (Emma, Kate and the twins) had run outside to play, the elders and the brand new sixteen year olds sat around the table discussing their lives, and dwelling on their futures. 

"So we're definitely going to try to get our licenses again this week," Leslie said firmly, nodding her head and looking to her sister for support. Channy nodded weakly. Failing her driver's test was not something that she wished to discuss.

"Well you'll surely get it next time. I mean, it's just a matter of paying attention, keeping your hands at ten and two, and always making sure you drive just a little bit under the speed limit!" Ross exclaimed as he stirred more sugar into his coffee.

Rachel set a hand on her husband's arm and rolled her eyes. "The girls know how to drive just fine, Ross."

"Of course they do. And that's why they drove here today." Everyone at the table looked at Frank, who was baring an embarrassed grin. "Sorry, I just had to say it."

"Well, in happier news, I have an announcement!" Phoebe interjected. "Your Uncle Joey is flying out here to celebrate your birthday with you!"

Every person's mouth dropped open at the announcement.

"Joey is coming into town? Since when?" Chandler seemed to be very excited by this news.

"He didn't tell me he was coming, and I talked to him this morning." Plans were not going exactly according to what was thought, and this caused Monica stress.

"Well, that's because I talked him into it this afternoon! He wasn't planning on coming, and then I told him that it was the triplets' sweet sixteen birthday bash and that he had to be here! And seeing as how he has missed the last two times that important things have happened, I think he should be here!" Phoebe threw her hands in their air from all the excitement.

"Phoebe, the anniversary of your first date with Mike, as special as it is, is probably not excuse enough for Joey to come back. So he's only missed one important thing," Rachel said softly, patting her hand from across the table. Phoebe yanked her hand away.

"Well, it's the anniversary of his date with that one girl!"

"He's married now!" Chandler admonished.

"He missed the birth of my child!"

"That was 12 years ago!" Ross argued.

"Well fine. Twelve years pass and all is forgotten," Phoebe mumbled as Mike took her hand from under the table.

"So when did Joey say he was getting in?" Monica changed the subject quickly as to avoid any more arguing at the dinner table.

"Well," Phoebe turned to face Monica, "he said he was getting in from JFK at nine tomorrow morning. Who wants to go pick him up?"

"Oh me! I do!" Ross practically jumped at the idea of driving his car. "I mean, if no one else wants to do it, I guess I will."

"Hoorah! I can't wait until tomorrow! Joey told me that he had a surprise for you guys," Phoebe said to the triplets. They smiled excitedly.

Chandler leaned over to Frank. "Yeah, last time Joey brought me a surprise, it was some great porn. Joey has _always _been the best at picking out--," he looked up to catch a glare from Monica, Phoebe, Rachel, Leslie and Channy, "--ways to disrespect women. Joey has _always _been the best at disrespecting women, and his taste in porn shows it." As soon as the girls turned away to get back to talking, Chandler winked at Frank.

"No, its not porn! He's bringing the video," Phoebe corrected.

A gasp was emitted from all of the adults around the table.

"The baby video?" Chandler asked.

"The one that he filmed on the day they were born?" Rachel looked at the triplets.

"That's the one," Phoebe grinned widely.

"There's a video of the day we were born?" Channy and Leslie asked simultaneously. "Why haven't we seen it before?"

"Well, there's some stuff that may not have been suitable for you guys when you were younger," Ross said carefully. "And I'm not too sure that it is suitable now." He smiled as he thought back to the day when the triplets were born and Joey had carted the video camera with him everywhere in the hospital.

"I totally forgot about that video," Rachel smiled wistfully. "I don't think I ever saw it, either. I think it got lost in the shuffle."

"I bet Joey put it away and just saved it for the special occasion that we would all be together so we could watch it." Mike looked equally as quizzical as he and Phoebe stood up from the table to go home.

"Or knowing Joey, he probably forgot all about it and found it while looking for a blank tape to record over for sex or something."

Everyone nodded in sudden agreement at Chandler's last point.

* * *

I know that is kind of a sudden place to end it, but I need the rest of it for the next chapter. Sorry this took so long. It's just that this is really hard to write. Really hard. Thanks, and please review. 


End file.
